Integrity forms foundation of leadership

  • Published
  • By Col. J.R. Tillery
  • 82d Mission Support Group commander
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- Over the past 23 years, I've had the opportunity to observe and work for many military and civilian leaders throughout the armed forces. Each one placed a different emphasis on the essential qualities of a leader.

Some of my highest-level supervisors and commanders stressed excellence and technical competence, while others focused on character and ethics. However, the one quality on which all appeared to agree was integrity.

Integrity is the foundation of leadership and the key to building organizational esprit de corps. At the heart of integrity is a consistent value system that promotes respect and trust.

Integrity requires moral fitness and self-discipline. In uncertain and difficult situations, morally centered integrity is the compass that consistently guides a leader along a path of committed ethical behavior. Good leaders -- and the Air Force has many -- navigate toward the right course of action based on the Air Force core values: integrity, service before self and excellence in all we do.

Integrity creates trust. It's the one leadership character trait that can't be compromised. Within that trait are four integral moral and ethical factors: courage, responsibility, accountability and consistency.

Courage involves doing the right thing. A courageous leader must act in the best interest of the organization, even when that interest calls for great personal sacrifice. Courage under fire conveys a sense of self-confidence. Self-confidence engenders the confidence in others. People will follow those in whom they have trust and confidence.

Responsibility requires an acceptance of duty without excuse or exception. It requires protecting the people and resources that take care of the mission. Subordinates willingly follow those who show responsibility in their words and deeds.

Accountability means you are responsible for your actions and the actions of the people you command whom you could have reasonably influenced. Leadership based on integrity doesn't blame, shift or scapegoat. It assesses the facts and makes a fair determination based on those facts.

People trust others who always accept accountability for their actions and the actions of those under their command.

Consistency requires adherence to a principled course. An inconsistent leader risks being viewed as unreliable, insincere and untrustworthy. Consistency also requires harmony between actions and words. An exceptional colonel under whose command I served best expressed the importance of this harmony.

In explaining the concept of consistency, then Col. Jay Kelley said, "I hear what you say. I see what you do. Now, I know what you mean."

Colonel Kelley understood the importance of our actions as an endorsement of our spoken word. A highly effective leader, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general and became the Air University commander.

The moral and ethical qualities of courage, responsibility, accountability and consistency are essential to effective leadership. The question then becomes, why is integrity, as characterized by these four factors, so important to military leadership?

First, integrity is important because of the nature of our profession: the profession of arms. Second, those who follow a leader must relinquish a degree of autonomy and self-determination. In some respects, this relinquishment of power and control creates vulnerability. However, subordinates do not relinquish the need to be secure and confident in their decision to follow and are likely to rebel against leadership they don't trust.

General of the Army "Hap" Arnold described the importance of integrity best in a letter to Lt. Col. LeRoy Stefen, dated Nov. 5, 1946. Responding to Stefen's request for career advice, Arnold wrote, "Personal integrity also means moral integrity. Regardless of what appears to be some superficial ideas of present-day conduct, fundamentally, today as always, the man who is genuinely respected is the man who keeps his moral integrity sound and is trustworthy in every respect."

In the end, regardless of how leadership is defined or packaged, the nature of our profession dictates that leadership must be built upon a foundation of integrity.

In "The Art of the Leader," Maj. Gen. Bill Cohen advises, "If you want to build esprit de corps, you must demonstrate integrity and if you do, it won't be long before everyone in your organization knows that you can be trusted, that you say what you mean and you mean what you say. The members of your organization will demonstrate integrity in dealing with you, and each other, and the esprit de corps in your organization will soar."

Integrity is the foundation of leadership. How solid is your foundation?

(Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)